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Russia's War On Ukraine; Monkeypox Outbreak; Coronavirus Pandemic; Extreme Weather; Chaos At Port Of Dover. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired July 24, 2022 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

First Russia reportedly denies involvement and now it is offering a very different statement on a missile strike on a key Ukrainian port. Live in Ukraine and Istanbul with details.

And the World Health Organization declares monkeypox a global health emergency. What that means and the why it may mean valuable time was lost.

And wildfires burned thousands of acres around Yosemite National Park adding to the dangers of the deadly heat wave.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: We begin with breaking news out of Moscow. Russia's confirming, for the first time, that it did strike the Ukrainian port of Odessa. The Russian foreign ministry now says it hit military targets in the port with precision missiles.

But the strikes came just one day after Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement in Istanbul to allow Ukraine to resume grain exports through its ports. Now Turkiye said Moscow initially denied having anything to do with the strikes. Turkiye said the attack was on the port facilities but didn't damage any infrastructure used in grain exports.

Condemnation of the attack has been swift, with Britain saying Russia's word can't be taken at face value.

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LIZ TRUSS, U.K. FOREIGN SECRETARY AND MINISTER FOR WOMEN AND EQUALITIES: It is absolutely appalling that only a day after striking this deal, Vladimir Putin has launched a completely unwarranted attack on Odessa. It shows that not a word he says can be trusted. And we need to

urgently work with our international partners to find a better way of getting the grain out of Ukraine that doesn't involve Russia and their broken promises.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. secretary of state echoed the sentiment, saying, quote, "This attack casts serious doubt on the credibility of Russia's commitment to yesterday's deal. Russia bears responsibility for deepening the global food crisis."

And the European Union also condemned the attack. So for the latest, Ivan Watson joins us from Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine. And Nada Bashir is standing by in Istanbul.

First, Ivan, Russia's admission that it was behind the strikes and then the worldwide condemnation to all of this so soon after signing the agreements.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, we've seen an evolution in Moscow's account of what actually happened. You go through the timeline, Friday evening in Istanbul, you have the Russian defense minister, the Ukrainian ministry of infrastructure, the United Nations, the Turkish president.

All of these senior officials gathered for signing this agreement to restart the export of Ukrainian grain because the Russian invasion has driven up wheat prices around the world, plunging tens of millions of people into potential starvation.

The United Nations secretary general calls this a beacon of hope on the Black Sea. And then, less than 12 hours later, the Ukrainians say, hey, we've been hit by two cruise missiles in the port of Odessa, one of the three ports where the grain exports are supposed to start taking place.

Ukrainians saying that they also shot down two of the cruise missiles using their air defenses. The Russians initially were silent about this.

Then they told the Turkish government that they denied that they carried out cruise missile strikes. And now you have the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, saying that in fact they were caliber cruise missiles that were fired at Odessa and that they hit a naval vessel.

So we are seeing the evolution of the Russian response. Meanwhile, from the get-go, when the first explosions and blasts were reported, Ukrainian officials from local government, in Odessa, all the way up to the national government, were basically saying I told you so. You cannot trust the Russians. They will try to break the deals.

The Ukrainian president accusing Russia of damaging historical architecture and treasures in Odessa, this ancient port city. The Ukrainian foreign minister saying, we are going to try to abide by the agreement that was signed on Friday because, he is arguing, that this was not signed directly with Russians but with Turkish and U.N. mediation.

And he is calling on both the Turkish government and the U.N. to hold Russia to account, to make this agreement possible.

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WATSON: Back to you.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much.

On that, Nada, Ukraine said the deal is still on. You are in Istanbul where the deal was signed.

How do they go forward after everything that has just happened?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Kim, there is essentially a lot of pressure on Turkiye now to prove that this deal can last and can truly be implemented successfully, despite the attack that we have seen by Russian forces on the port of Odessa on the southern coast of Ukraine.

Just 24 hours after that deal was signed, here in Istanbul, so the pressure really is on and here in Turkiye this has been seen as a real blow to the efforts put forth by President Erdogan and his government for weeks now, involved in that mediation effort to bring some sort of agreement between Russia and Ukraine to allow those grain exports to leave those key ports on the Black Sea coast.

This had been seen as a real diplomatic win for President Erdogan. He's long been seen as somewhat of an outlier amongst his NATO counterparts, choosing to maintain communications with president Putin while also offering support to the Ukrainian armed forces.

And up until this attack, it had seemed that that decision had yielded some pretty significant and positive results. Now of course, as Ivan mentioned, it is up to Turkish government to prove that it is holding the Russian government to account. But also that this deal can work.

There are some key parts that the Turkish government will be playing going forward; most importantly, it will be establishing a joint communication center and joint coordinations here in Istanbul. That would be charged with the responsibility to overseeing the passage of these vessels through the safe corridors.

So it is up to the Turkish government, working alongside representatives for both Ukraine and Russia, as well as monitors from the United Nations to ensure that those safe corridors are established as soon as possible as well as inspecting teams that will have the responsibility to take a look at these vessels and ensure they are carrying goods that are agreed upon in this deal.

And importantly not carrying weapons but also, of course, ensuring that Russia is held to account and also commits to this agreement. Now there are technical briefings, ongoing between the Turkish government and Ukrainian officials, yesterday.

It is expected that they would continue discussions around the preparations needed in order for this deal to really get off the ground and get going. Turkiye remains in contact with Ukrainian officials.

They say they are ready to export the grain but they just need Turkiye to establish this joint coordination center, get it going and get these inspection teams ready, to take a look at the vessels passing through.

Turkiye now has an immense responsibility also on domestic front. President Erdogan now has a massive responsibility to prove that these months of negotiations, weeks of discussions with Turkiye, Russia, the United Nations, will bear some fruit, that this will be a success.

Otherwise, it will be significant blow to his efforts and also, of course, to the agreement as a whole. There is a significant amount of urgency around getting the grain out of Ukraine. But of course, as we, heard repeatedly from the United Nations, from the World Food Programme, there are so many countries, millions of people, dependent on those grain exports.

Around 20 million tons of grain currently stuck inside those almost three southern ports in Ukraine. If they don't get out soon enough, there will be massive ramifications both for those desperately relying on those grain exports but also for future harvests in Ukraine.

So there is a massive amount of responsibility on Turkiye at this stage to prove that this deal can work and to ensure that this can be implemented successfully. And we are expecting to see those implementations take place in the coming days.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, so many moving parts to this and so much at stake, as you just said.

Let's go back to Ivan now, who's been focusing on Odessa.

But obviously the war effort continues elsewhere.

So looking at the state of the battlefield, what is the latest on the southern front?

WATSON: That is where there are fixed front lines, active front lines, both sides fighting. The Ukrainians have been launching long distance attacks. They have been targeting infrastructure, such as bridges that link Crimea to Russian occupied Kherson region. And clearly trying to hit the Russian supply lines.

Meanwhile, the Russians have been firing salvos of missiles. Earlier this week, I saw a missile strike hit the aftermath of one in that port city of Odessa on kind of an industrial compound.

But what they also have been hitting, day and night, is a front line city called Mykolaiv, near the Russian occupied city of Kherson, with salvos landing day and night there. The local government urging civilians to leave that city in recent

days.

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WATSON: We're now waiting on results of rescue efforts after a number of targets were hit last night there. Again, this is a long front line. The Ukrainians are celebrating the fact that they've gotten long range rocket systems from the U.S., from Western allies, that they've been able to, as they put it, hit Russian targets that were formerly considered to be kind of been in safe areas, far from the front lines.

They say they have transformed kind of the battle space. That said, it is still a war of attrition on the front lines. Both militaries are basically playing hide and seek, trying to hide their armored vehicles, their troops.

And when they get intelligence, they try to hit them and neither side really admits, Kim, when they lose troops, when they suffer major casualties. And that is part of the fog of war in this conflict right now.

BRUNHUBER: Great to have both of you reporting there. Ivan Watson in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine, and Nada Bashir in Istanbul. Thank you to you both.

Well, Maria Avdeeva is a security expert living in Kharkiv, Ukraine. When I spoke with her earlier, I asked why Moscow would go to the trouble of negotiating a major deal only to attack the port. Listen to this.

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MARIA AVDEEVA, UKRAINE SECURITY EXPERT: Russia wants to show that it can attack Ukraine anywhere, anytime. That is what has been done by the Russian troops throughout the war.

And Putin shows that he will not be committed to any agreement Russia makes and he can do what he wants, on the one hand. On the other hand, it shows that it threatens the security of the whole Black Sea region.

And it means that, even if this grain deal will be in place and the convoys of ships exporting grain will have a safe passage through the Black Sea, then it doesn't mean that Russia will guarantee their security.

And on the other hand, it means that the companies that are actually doing this, that are exporting the grain, they will have a lot of problems about the insurance and general security issues, because they will not be willing to enter the zone where the rockets fly and where their ships can be hit by the rockets.

You know, Vladimir Putin would certainly be aware of the optics. I mean, I can't see how that would be worth just to send the message that he could attack Ukraine at anytime. I mean, he does that every day. BRUNHUBER: But you know, Vladimir Putin would surely be aware of the

optics. I mean, I can't see how that would be worth it, just to send the message that he could attack Ukraine at anytime. He does that every day.

AVDEEVA: Right, absolutely. But this grain deal was a political agreement between the four sides. And as the Ukrainian officials put it, Russia has done with this missile attack was as spit on the face of the United Nations and Turkiye, who are the guarantees (sic) in this deal.

That means that Putin wants to show that he is fully control of the situation and he can do with he wants.

Russia wants to show that it completely occupies the Black Sea and it spits in the face of Turkiye and the United Nations.

And these two parties, now, have to show Russia that, until it fully obliges to the deal, the export of the Ukrainian grain won't be made safely. So they have to push on Russia so that it gives more guarantees that the ships entering this safe corridor will not be targeted by Russian missiles.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. Listen. We'll have to leave it there. So much at stake. Food for millions of people here. Thank you so much for your expertise, Maria Avdeeva. Appreciate it.

AVDEEVA: Thank you.

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BRUNHUBER: Two Americans recently died in the Donbas region of Ukraine. That's according to the U.S. State Department. There are no details on the individuals or the circumstances of their deaths.

But the State Department says it is in touch with families and providing assistance.

Pope Francis is on his way to Canada, where he's expected to make amends for historical transgressions by the Catholic Church. He was in a wheelchair as he boarded his flight in Rome short time ago.

He will visit Edmonton and Quebec City and Iqaluit in Quebec's north, known for traditional Inuit culture.

During his six-day tour, he is expected to apologize for the church's role in the forced assimilation of thousands of Indigenous children, in so-called residential schools, over many decades. He is expected to meet Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors.

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BRUNHUBER: The World Health Organization is stepping up its alert over monkeypox.

Can the agency convince countries around the world to come together as cases continue to rise?

Plus the pandemic isn't over, as Japan reports some of its worst COVID numbers yet. What the government says about bringing back restrictions coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: The World Health Organization is declaring the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. According to the agency, there have been more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox in over 75 countries and five deaths in Africa. The director general explained why the WHO made its designation, here's this.

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DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: WHO's assessment is that the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region, where we assess the risk is high.

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BRUNHUBER: For more on this, I want to bring in Dr. Scott Miscovich. He is the president and CEO of Premier Medical Group USA. He's also a national consultant in the U.S. for COVID 19 testing. He joins me now from Hawaii.

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BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much for being here with us, Doctor. So I just want to start with the importance of this declaration.

How does it help?

DR. SCOTT MISCOVICH, FAMILY PHYSICIAN AND NATIONAL CONSULTANT: Well, it brings public awareness, Kim. That is very important right now across the world.

Now we know that, for example, 80 percent of the cases or so are concentrated in Europe. But we are seeing a significant surge of cases across the United States in certain regions.

And people with COVID haven't been paying attention to it as much and I think it needs to be brought to the forefront, for the medical community and the rest of the world.

BRUNHUBER: Just to be on flagging it, does it also sort of release money and certain mechanisms that could help fight this?

MISCOVICH: Well, every country is going to be different. And again two days ago, the White House put out an announcement that they're going to be moving forward with some more funding to do some testing and some research associated with monkeypox.

So, yes, there is no question that it should push it. But again, my concern with this, Kim, is that it's probably a little late. We're already 2.5 months into this. And now we're starting to put this up on the front burner.

BRUNHUBER: That's exactly what I want to ask you. Here in the past weeks, ever since monkeypox was spreading seriously around the world, I've had some members of the WHO Committee on monkeypox.

And I asked them directly why aren't they making this declaration now?

It is clear it is spreading quickly worldwide. They said, well, essentially it doesn't meet the criteria but they will keep monitoring the situation.

Well, here we are. I'd argue we knew all along that this declaration would have to be made.

So have we lost valuable time here?

MISCOVICH: Oh, we absolutely have lost valuable time. When you look at the incubation period and you look at the timing of this disease, I talked to a team of epidemiologists that I have working with us.

And we probably have nearly doubled the number of cases across the world because this is a little more asymptomatic and lower detected in certain groups. It is presenting a little differently. And we have waited too long, no doubt.

BRUNHUBER: All right, so we want to stress, no one is immune from this. Anyone would get the virus. But it is worth highlighting that overwhelmingly the cases have been among men who have sex with men.

We in the media and health officials, we don't want to stigmatize any communities. But if we do shy away from stressing who's at most risk and how this disease seems to be transmitting, which seems to be through sex, at least right now, aren't we doing the public a disservice here?

MISCOVICH: I mean, we do need to highlight that. There's no question about it. But let's look at the United States. We have an infant and a toddler who have contracted the disease. There are approximately, I think, eight women that have contracted the disease.

So what we are concerned about is this can be spread through contact droplets. So it can be spread through towels, it can be spread through sheets. And in the medical community, we are worried if this gets into the community of sex workers. And that can broaden the spread.

So we have a lot to stop right now because it can start breaking out of just the men having sex with men community very quickly.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, as we've seen with other diseases. Have to leave it there. But I really appreciate your expertise, Dr. Scott Miscovich, thanks so much for joining us.

MISCOVICH: Thank you, Kim.

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BRUNHUBER: The number of global COVID cases fueled by the BA.5 subvariant is on the rise. Have a look here, you can see on this map, the virus is surging, especially in North Africa, Asia and Latin America. Our reporter Jacqueline Howard has more.

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JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Tokyo, people go about their daily lives. Japan was looking forward to a rise in tourism during the summer months as its economy struggles to get back to prepandemic levels.

But a recent uptick in COVID-19 cases is spoiling those plans. Out of the country's 47 prefectures, 30 reported daily new highs. This is Japan's seventh wave of coronavirus. And the government says it doesn't plan to bring back any COVID rules.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): As for the rapid spread, I think that maybe, since the spring, everyone has calmed down and gone back to normal. So it was predictable, to a certain extent.

HOWELL (voice-over): And it's not just Japan. Many parts of the world are seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Health officials are blaming a combination of relaxed social restrictions, as well as the spread of Omicron subvariant BA.5. It's more transmissible than the original Omicron variant and is now the dominant strain.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: And this variant does seem to be pretty different than previous variants, which means that your previous immunity, either from infection or from vaccine, may not be as protective.

HOWELL (voice-over): In the United States, infections are on the rise in at least 40 states. And hospitalizations have jumped 20 percent in the past few weeks. More than 1 million Americans have died of the virus since the pandemic started.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We probably are currently seeing somewhere between 600,000 and 800,000 new cases per day, most people being tested at home. So there's a tremendous amount of virus around. What's worse is that there's no sense of urgency in this country.

HOWELL (voice-over): Europe is not just battling a heat wave. The number of COVID-19 cases there has tripled in the past six weeks. That's according to the World Health Organization. Nearly 3 million new infections were reported the week of July 10th.

DR. HANS KLUGE, WHO EUROPE: The virus has never gone away. People sometimes ask, is the virus back?

It's never gone away, it's still there, it's spreading, it is mutating. And unfortunately, it's still taking a lot of lives.

HOWELL (voice-over): Health experts are urging people to get vaccinated, warning that if you haven't gotten a COVID-19 vaccine this year, you're not protected against serious illness from the new variant -- Jacqueline Howard, CNN, Atlanta.

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BRUNHUBER: Joe Biden's doctor says the president's COVID symptoms continue to improve. Despite being in isolation, Biden is participating in virtual meetings. Arlette Saenz has more.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden's physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, released this letter on Saturday, saying that the president's symptoms are improving. He detailed some of those primary symptoms the president is experiencing, including a sore throat and body aches.

So the president continues to respond well to that Paxlovid treatment, that antiviral drug and he will continue taking that medication.

Additionally, the president has been using an albuterol inhaler as needed for a cough. Dr. Kevin O'Connor saying he's doing that about 2- 3 times a day. The doctor noted that the president is not experiencing shortness of breath and that his oxygen saturation levels remain excellent and his lungs are clear.

Now White House chief of staff Ron Klain told reporters on Saturday that the president is feeling pretty well and he is spending the day on the phone, including some virtual conference calls.

And here is how Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president's chief medical adviser, detailed the president's condition on Saturday.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF COVID-19 MEDICAL ADVISER: I spoke to Dr. O'Connor last night at 10 o'clock to get an update. And just as you said and you heard, the president continues to improve.

And we have every reason to believe that he will do very well. Having a runny nose, having someone who -- he has a history when he does get colds, that have nothing to do with COVID. He has a history of asthma and he uses a bronchodilator to make sure that he breathes well.

He has no trouble breathing at all right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Additionally, Dr. Kevin O'Connor says the early sequencing results of the president's COVID-19 tests have come in and it indicates that he will most likely has the highly contagious BA.5 variant.

That is the variant that the majority of Americans currently contracting COVID-19 here in the country are experiencing at this moment.

Now while the president is isolating here at the White House, his wife, first lady Jill Biden, is spending the weekend up in Wilmington, Delaware. Her spokesperson tells me she tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday and is not expecting any symptoms.

She is expected to remain there in Delaware until at least Tuesday, which would mark day five of President Biden's isolation. Dr. O'Connor said that the president will continue to isolate according to CDC guidelines but he will leave isolation once he tests negative -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.

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BRUNHUBER: A man suspected of attacking Republican house leader has been arrested again, this time on a federal start charge.

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REP. LEE ZELDIN (R-NY): And there is only one option.

DAVID JAKUBONIS, ASSAULT SUSPECT: You're done, you're done, you're done.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): What you're seeing there, that video shows 43-year-old David Jakubonis, walking on stage and grabbing Zeldin, who is running for New York governor, during a campaign event on Thursday.

Court documents describe the suspect using a self-defense keychain as a weapon. He was tackled by others and Zeldin, who was unharmed, Jakubonis was arrested and charged by state authorities after the attack and released shortly afterwards.

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BRUNHUBER: Just ahead, with nearly 100 million Americans under heat alerts this weekend, California declares a state of emergency of a wildfire raging near a crown jewel of the national park system. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to viewers watching us here in the United States, Canada, around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is CNN NEWSROOM. California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency for

Mariposa County as a new wildfire grows near Yosemite National Park. Officials say the Oak fire has destroyed at least 10 structures, damaged five and is threatening thousands of others.

The summer's extreme heat is fueling wildfires across the U.S. More than 90 million peoples are set to be under heat alerts today.

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BRUNHUBER: China, is dealing with a scorching heat wave of its own. More than 50 cities are under red alerts, the country's highest heat warning. CNN's Selina Wang has more.

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SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This heat wave has been ferocious. Last, week dozens of cities logged record highs. Some reached more than 110 degrees. This is all part of the global trend of more extreme weather driven by climate change.

Not just heat but also flooding is hitting China. Flooding in recent months has displaced millions of people and destroyed vast fields of crops. All this puts more pressure on an economy already battered by COVID lockdowns.

The crop damage, threatening to push up inflation. Then all this also comes as COVID cases are rising. At least 30 cities are in full or partial lockdown. There've been growing reports of COVID workers collapsing on-the-job due to heatstroke.

In these suffocating temperatures, they wear full head-to-toe hazmat suits. Videos of giant pools of sweat in their suits have gone viral on social media. Some COVID testers have even gotten creative by hugging giant ice cubes and taping ice to their suits.

And residents across the country, young, old and sick, are all required to wait in long lines for regular COVID tests, even in the scorching weather -- Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.

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BRUNHUBER: Now to Iran, where flash flooding has killed at least 21 people in the southern part of the country. Video from local media shows cars being swept away by the rising waters, as you can see there.

Officials say at least 15 vehicles were submerged by the floods. Iran has been suffering some of its worst drought conditions in decades, which dries up the soil, making it harder to absorb sudden heavy rainfall.

Well, getting married in the middle of the war zone is not everyone's idea of the perfect wedding. But for many couples in Ukraine, there is no time like the present. We'll explain why after a short break. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Russia is admitting for the first time that it is responsible for yesterday's missile strikes on Odessa. But it says it only hit military infrastructure in the port, including the Ukraine military vessel.

But Ukraine says port facilities were hit but not infrastructure used for grain exports. The attacks came one day after the two countries signed an agreement to reopen Ukrainian ports for grain exports.

The move is expected to ease the global food crisis caused by the war. The Russians' attack drew widespread international condemnation and Ukraine says it still moving ahead with reparations to resume the exports, despite the attack.

Well, for five months the world has watched the Russian military commit all sorts of alleged atrocities in Ukraine. But people inside Russia are getting a very different view of the so-called special military operation. Earlier I spoke with Andrei Kolesnikov of the Carnegie Endowment in St. Petersburg.

I asked him how the war was being covered now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREI KOLESNIKOV, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: It is a contradictory story, because it was, at the very beginning it was a real shock for the majority of Russians, including those who are supporting Putin. But now, this is like five months of this war.

And ordinary Russians realize that the special operation is not going to be over anytime soon. And they prefer to survive simply, to live life as usual. So Putin doesn't lead them into trenches. He didn't announce any kind of general military mobilization.

And it was the right step because people feel themselves in safety. All the young boys and families could be in danger. But the Kremlin is intuitively (ph) feeling that it must demonstrate that this is not a real war but a special operation.

And people in cities, in big cities, can't leave their own everyday life. This is kind of a business as usual for them. People are accepting it, that this is kind of a social contract between the authorities and average Russians.

BRUNHUBER: So then, when it comes to Putin himself, I mean, it is always hard to gauge his popularity accurately, given the amount of repression, lack of media independence and so on. But how has his popularity fared as this war has dragged on, now for

months, much longer than most Russian s would have expected?

KOLESNIKOV: The people are disoriented. They can't understand how to explain it to themselves what is happening. They prefer to borrow the opinion from official sources, from Putin himself. Putin is a teacher of history, he's the main (ph) teacher at the same time. So being so -- yes?

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KOLESNIKOV: And I would say that people prefer to support the war leader. Putin's strength is that (ph) his personal authority, paradoxically, (INAUDIBLE) primarily because he demonstrated that only he is a person who is controlling the situation.

And to the broad (ph) masses of people who understand they can't see any kind of alternative figures, they see that they are in safety, being defended by Putin. So we are talking about (INAUDIBLE) majority, not about the Russian people as such because around 15 percent or 20 percent of the population are strongly against the (INAUDIBLE).

When we're talking about figures, this is simply -- this is not political phenomena, I would say; this is psychological (INAUDIBLE) on how to defend yourself, how to explain to yourselves this is a disaster and how to calm down your own feelings.

I don't want to see any kind of alternative sources. I believe to my president (INAUDIBLE) this is my country. This is one of the most, let's say, popular positions.

BRUNHUBER: We will have to leave it there. But really appreciate getting an insight into Russia right now as it goes through this war, a completely different experience obviously from that of millions of Ukrainians.

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BRUNHUBER: Andrei Kolesnikov in St. Petersburg, thanks so much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Well, in Russia, it may be business as usual. But in Ukraine, it's anything but. And the uncertainty of the future has spurred couples to exchange vows now and not later. CNN's Scott McLean explains.

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SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is not exactly a dream wedding venue. But Vlada (ph) and Ivan (ph) would be happy just about anywhere. On their big day, the groom, a massage therapist turned army medic, gives his bride a quick foot rub before it's their turn to say I do.

"All of my life has led to this day," she says. After a brief ceremony, a few words and a few signatures, the

newlyweds seal it with the kiss.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).

MCLEAN (voice-over): "Congratulations," she says, "on the beginning of your new life together."

The pair, who asked us not to use their last names, says Ivan (ph) is serving on the front lines in southern Ukraine and was able to get away long enough to marry but will be back at war within days.

"The procedure itself became easier during martial law," he says. "It was harder for me to get here than it was to get married."

Under Ukraine's newly relaxed wartime marriage laws, there is no longer a one-month waiting period, in part to accommodate a surge in the number of military couples wanting to wed on short notice. Martial law even allows people to marry online.

Anna Khutorian (ph) and her new husband, fighting on the front lines, had no other choice.

MCLEAN: So this is how you got married?

MCLEAN (voice-over): "I went to the store with my friend to have a coffee," she told us, "and my husband called me on a video call, like I'm talking to you. And I saw a lady who asked us if we were ready to get married. It was the happiest day of my life."

MCLEAN: Have you seen your husband since you've been married?

MCLEAN (voice-over): "No," she says, "only through the phone."

Aside from love, Anna (ph) is aware of the practical realities, like getting access to her husband if he were to be injured or killed in battle.

Back at the registration office, officiant Oksana Pobiergez (ph) says war is changing lives and perspectives.

"Now we are living in a very dangerous time," she says, "and maybe people who were playing tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or in a year to get married, have realized that we are living today, here and now. And maybe that's where their decision comes from."

That's precisely where Sergey Yanov's (ph) decision came from; after eight years with Tatiana (ph), war suddenly they made marriage a priority.

"War worries me more than anything else," he says.

"This is not how we envisioned our wedding but we only had one day," she tells us. "So we wanted to make the most of it."

Short on time today but hoping to have a lifetime together after war -- Scott McLean, CNN, Kyiv.

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BRUNHUBER: They're beautiful and one step closer to extinction. Ahead, find out what steps experts say we can take to help save the monarch butterfly.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Chinese).

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): China has successfully launched the second module for the Tiangong space station. Beijing is one step closer to its goal of completing construction of the space station by the end of the year.

The laboratory module was launched from a site on Hainan Island earlier today. It will dock with the space station's core module some 13 hours after launch.

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BRUNHUBER: The beautiful migrating monarch butterfly is now at risk of extinction. The nation population of the colorful insect has dropped dramatically over the past decade. The reason: climate change. But experts say there are steps that can protect them before it's too late. Matt Rivers explains.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The migratory monarch butterfly is one of the world's natural wonders, known for flying thousands of kilometers from breeding grounds in the eastern United States and Canada, to spend winter in the forests of Mexico and California.

But that awe-inspiring migration is officially at risk. On Thursday, the International Union for Conversation of Nature -- or IUCN -- declared the migratory monarchs endangered and added them to its Red List of threatened species.

KAREN OBERHAUSER, CONSERVATION BIOLOGIST: What's happening to monarchs is like death by 1,000 cuts.

RIVERS (voice-over): The classification comes after decades of falling populations, in part due to climate change.

OBERHAUSER: Monarch numbers are really tied to variation in year-to- year weather. And the conditions that are best for monarchs are becoming more rare. So the hot and dry conditions are not good for them through most of their range.

RIVERS (voice-over): But climate change is just one factor. The IUCN says deforestation has destroyed considerably areas of the monarchs' winter shelter in California and Mexico. And farming has also had a major impact, with pesticides and herbicides used throughout monarch breeding grounds, killing the main source of food: milkweed.

OBERHAUSER: There actually used to be a lot of the monarchs' host plant, milkweed, in corn and soybean fields. But as farmers changed their weed control methods, that milkweed disappeared. And because much of the breeding range of monarchs is used for farming, a lot of that habitat has just gone out.

RIVERS (voice-over): Experts say there are still ways to protect them, from planting native milkweed and nectar flowers, reducing pesticide use and supporting conservation groups. But these things must be done quickly, if the butterfly is to be saved; now, formally, one step further on a path toward extinction -- Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.

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BRUNHUBER: Things are getting back to normal at Britain's Port of Dover after days of travel chaos. Roads near the port were gridlocked, with bumper-to-bumper traffic on Friday and Saturday.

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BRUNHUBER: British travelers trying to reach France faced an hours- long wait to get through border control. British officials blamed the delays on a lack of French border staff but France says more checks are needed since the U.K. is no longer a part of the European Union.

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BRUNHUBER: That wraps the scene in the CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Kim Brunhuber, thanks for watching. "NEW DAY" is next.

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